Al Qaeda, Power, Imperialism and the Significance of 911

Up until last week I had not seriously considered why the 911 tragedy occurred or even the thought that the perpetrators could have a platform that could be deciphered or understandable. However last week CNN did a special on Al Qaeda and said one statement that made the significance of the 911 tragedy blaringly clear to me and the why suddenly did not look to be the work of an unorganized band of militants but the clear plans of master strategists.

The statement that CNN made was something to the effect of, Al quada claimed that one of the reasons that 911 happened was because the United States was blocking their attempts to spread Islam and thus their power base into certain parts of Africa. Suddenly a shirt that I had seen Mumar Quadafi wearing several years ago flashed into my mind and that was a shirt of the continent of Africa which for me seemed rather strange since European scholars have gone out of their way for at least a century and a half to separate North Africa from the rest of Africa by calling it the Middle East. Obviously certain quote on quote “middle easterners“ do not consider themselves Middle Eastern but Africans. When this distinction is clarified the attack on the World trade Center can almost be seen as retaliation for daily attacks that occur and are sometimes incited by the United States for the resources that Mother Africa has.

As I write this post I see flash backs of one of my professors passionately discussing the divestment of Liberia of rubber, he discussed the 100 year contract that Good Year tire company had to take rubber from that particular country. He was livid! As I write this I remember the uranium that is mined from certain countries in Africa and the world has decided that “Africans” are not responsible enough to even possess it and use it in the case of Iran even for the use of energy. I see the Oil in many parts of Africa that is taken from the ground and many citizens of these countries still live in poverty. Everyone knows about the diamonds and gold that Africa is dripping in, yet daily we are bombarded with images of rural, hopeless, poverty stricken individuals who we must assume by looking at them that they have no legacy or means to support themselves but they do. If this logic is followed the attack on Washington D.C. and the world trade center becomes eerily clear and surprising that the United States had managed to escape such an attack before.

After looking at the CNN program on Al Qaeda I did a Google search on al Qaeda 911 and Africa and I came up with a host of sources stating that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are establishing themselves and making strides in Sub Saharan Africa and are providing hope to the hopeless something that many of these articles state that European countries and the United States have not done. While the United States is now trying to make up for some of its neglect of Africa many theorists are speculating that it may be too little too late and a United Africa may come in the guise of terrorists who eventually evolve into a legitimate government and may possibly create one Africa which surprisingly even the countries in the so called Middle East may agree too, in some form or fashion, and Israel could possible play a role in this new alliance also. As one writer wrote considering Israel, while Israel and the rest of the Middle East are fighting like cats and dogs in Northern Africa, further south in Africa they are brothers in their collusion to smuggle diamonds out of Africa which many state funds terrorists operations.

The following are a list of articles that discuss Africa and Al Qaeda

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48221-2004Jul13.html

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408050800.html

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050430a.aspx

http://transcripts.cnn.com/2002/US/09/18/alqaeda.starr.otsc/index.html

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9126/

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2004/n03092004_200403096.html

http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress01/caruso121801.htm

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=105374

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Apr2006/20060418_4859.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/050419-alqaeda-growth.htm

http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/all_regions/586078.htm

http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=155962&D=2006-06-13&HC=2

Most Current Article Written Concerning 911

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101782.html